Living
in compact community in
Xi’an, there are about
50,000 Moslems who
believe in Islam and
have the largest
population among the
minorities in Xi’an. Two
mosques have been built
at this region where
Huis reside, which are
called the East Great
Mosque and the West
Great Mosque because of
their locations--- one
in the east & the other
in the west. Yet the
East Great Mosque is on
a comparatively large
scale. The East Great
Mosque introduced here
is located at Huajue
Lane, the northwestern
side of the Drum Tower
in the center of Xi’an.

It is recorded on the
tablets inside the
Mosque at Huajue Lane
that the Mosque here was
first built in 742 AD
(the 1st year in the
regin of Emperor Tian
Bao in the Tang Dynasty)
and was repaired in 1384
AD (the 17th year of the
regin of emperor Hong Wu
in the Ming Dynasty).
The architecture of the
mosque is in the Ming
style. The East Great
Mosque can be divided
into 4 big courtyards,
covering an area of more
than 12,000 square
meters, and forming a
series of complete
historic buildings. The
main building in the
front yard is an
eight-meter high wooden
memorial gateway with
glazed, upturned eaves.
The stone tablet in the
second courtyard
recorded the repair work
in the Ming and Qing
dynasties. There is a
"month tablet" carved in
Arabic in the western
side of the courtyard.
which is the important
reference of the
calcuation of the Hui
calendar. A
three-storeyed octagonal
topmost roof toward the
central inspire terrace
and tower called
"Retrospection Tower" is
seen standing in the
center when you enter
the third courtyard,
which is the place from
where order are sent to
call the Moslems to come
to worship. The
three-gates (called Lian
San Men) paralleled with
the "Retrospection
Tower" in the west is
the fourth courtyard,
with the main buildings
of the Mosque clustering
here. there is a
pavilion named "Yi Zhen"
(the Pavilion of Phoenix
as well) standing inside
the center of this
courtyard, with the
six-gabled, upturned
eaves adjoined by three
pavilions, and it is
very beautiful in
architecture. Two words
"Yi Zhen" written by Tie
Xuan in 1399 AD (the
first year of Emperor
Hui in the Ming Dynasty)
are hung on the "Yi Zhen
Pavilion" (or the
Pavilion of Phoenix).
"The Stele on the
Repairing of the Mosque"
is stored and kept
inside this courtyard,
which is of the first
year of Emperor Tiao
Bao. Across the fish
pond---Chinese flowering
crabapple pond, walking
up the stairs, passing
the stone gate, coming
to the platform, a
large-scaled main hall
is seen, which is
seven-room wide and
nine-room long, covering
an area of about 1,3000
square meters, and can
house more than a
thousand worshipers each
time. The hall consists
of as the front
corridor, the Prayer
Hall and the rear
courtroom. The
horizontal inscribed
board absolving other
has been hung in the
hall, which was bestowed
by Zhu Li, Emperor Cheng
Zu in the Ming Dynasty
in 1405 to imam at that
time, Sayidiha Morutin
of Arab. The celling,
the walls of the hall
are decorated with
patterens of painted
trailingplants, which
can be regarded as the
art treasures of Islam
in China.

Thanks to the rigorous
arrangement of the
Mosque, and the special
style & features of each
courtyard as well as its
art treasures, the
Mosque was highly
praised by Han Suyin, a
British Chinese author,
and regarded as "An
excellent and
outstanding ancient
mosque" after her visit
to the mosque. Nowadays,
the Mosque at Huajue
Lane is not only the
place where the Huis
worship, but also the
opening and visiting
place to hostile Muslim
and Arabic State
leaders.